Media and security forces continue cooperation in Guinea

Though often seen as opposing sides, the Guinean media and armed forces joined together in April to brainstorm new solutions for working together

More than 40 representatives of media, army and security forces gathered together in Conakry, Guinea to discuss the role of media in the country after an unprofessional performance in last year’s elections. Minister of Defense, Abdoul Kabèlè Camara, emphasized in his opening statement that both parties must know their responsibilities and not interfere in each other’s work.

Fanning the flames

The meeting was a follow-up to a seminar organized last year in May before the first round of presidential elections. Representatives of media and security forces and army organized a two-day meeting where they agreed on a code of conduct during the electoral period.

During the first round of elections, both sides respected the agreement and elections passed in good cooperation for both parties. However, during the long interim period between the first and second round of elections, competition between the two candidates split society along ethnic lines. Media was unable to stay outside this division and began to use hate speech and untruthful reporting to worsen the situation though this was against the code of conduct.

The editor of local newspaper Le Lynx described the situation before the second round as very dangerous.

-We were just one breath away from ending up in the same situation as the Ivory Coast.

A concerted effort

Working groups concentrated on three key subjects in the workshop: how to improve the relationship between media and security forces, what are the practical means of doing this and how to follow up on the implementation of the recommendations made in the meeting before the elections. The recommendations included more education for all parties, regular meetings, point persons who could solve emerging problems, an information campaign for the code of conduct and also the inclusion of civil society organizations in the cooperation.

The president of National Council for Communication (CNC),   Martine Condé, wished that similar workshops could be organized in other parts of the country so the local media and officials could become more familiar with the new media and access to information laws.

IMS has been supporting the cooperation between the media and security forces in countries like Guinea, Benin and Ivory Coast to help both sides understand their obligations and rights in transitional situations.